Although our focus is on affordable mechanical watches, we once in a while zoom in on watches that are either very special or plain beautiful. In this case, it is both. We have to admit that we didn’t make it to see this relatively new brand called Breva during last year’s Baselworld, but we wanted to make up for it this year at least. So we had the opportunity to look at last year’s introduced Breva Genie 01 and this year’s introduction of the Breva Genie 02.The title of this article is one with a wink, as it refers to the Genie collection as being mechanical Smart Watches. Not your digital Smart Watch that has been recently discussed here by Prof. Dr. Jan Adriaanse, but a mechanical watch that is able to work as a real instrument like a barometer and a altimeter. Pointless? Perhaps, but so is reading time from a mechanical watch if that’s the topic of discussion. No, we love watch brands for coming up with original ideas and – as always – our main interest lies into the execution of such a timepiece. Truth to be told, it was quite refreshing to see a haute horlogerie watch manufacturer coming up with something different than a tourbillon. Or two.With great precision, Breva is able to do a weather forecast with the Genie 01 and show altitude up to 5,000 meters (with the Genie 01 and 02). The Genie 02 works on the same principle of measuring air pressure to be able show the altitude, but according to Breva to a more precise level than the Genie 01.The Breva Genie 01 (we got hands-on with the 4N pink gold version) is an awesome piece of machinery ?that has been developed with the help of?by Jean-Fran?ois Mojon/ Chronode. He again did the same for the Genie 02 (we got hands-on with the Terre model, crafted of G5 titanium). Both models have a crown at 4 o’clock that rotates 90 degrees to lock and unlock an air valve. This valve is used to allow a small portion of air inside the movement (or let it out) to equalize air pressure inside the case with the exterior air pressure. A red indicator on the dial marked ‘SEALED’ warns when the valve is open.The screw down crown at 2 o’clock is used to?rotate both the altitude's precision-scale and large-scale to adjust for variations in air pressure, which affect altitude readings. Setting time is being down with the crown at 4 o’clock. In the Genie 01, Breva uses an anaerobic barometer, in which one or more aneroid capsules (aneroid means without air') expand/contract with changing air pressure. The barometer and altimeter (air pressure changes with both altitude and weather) measure air pressure with two small aneroid capsules stacked one above the other the top one being clearly visible on the dial side at 5 o'clock. The aneroid capsules in the Genie 01 were especially developed to Breva’s specifications to optimise their precision and use in a wristwatch. The capsules are made from a special non-magnetic memory-metal (Breva patented invention), which is lighter and stronger than aluminium and has twice the ductility of steel. The capsules are exposed for long durations to high temperature and pure oxygen to maximise thermal conductivity and oxidation resistance.The Genie 02 is a bit different from the Genie 01 in that respect though, as?its?aneroid capsules were developed specifically for registering air pressure for altitude readings rather than barometric pressure, and are different to those used on the Genie 01. As you can see, the movements seem to be identical, but the movement of the Genie 01 is a bit smaller (36mm diameter instead of 38,1mm) and consists of 405 components instead of 415 in the Genie 02.Specifications of the Breva Genie 01:Functions: hours, minutes, small second, altitude indicator, barometric pressure indicator, power reserve indicator, air pressure equaliser, equaliser seal indicator, barometric scale adjuster, altitude scale adjuster.Case, dial and strap:Case material: available in white gold (55 pieces) or 4N pink gold (55 pieces)Dimensions: 44.7 mm x 15.6 mmNumber of components: 70Winding setting crown at 9 o'clock, altitude and barometric pressure adjuster at 2 o'clock (altitude inner pusher, barometer exterior ring), air pressure equaliser at 4 o'clockCrystals: sapphire crystal and display back treated with anti-reflective coating on both sidesDial: smoked sapphire with galvanic growth text, numbers and markersAltitude scale: available in metric or imperial measurementsStrap: hand stitched alligator strap with folding buckle to match the case materialWater resistance: 30mAir equaliser with moisture-resisting osmosis membrane Teflon fabric around a titanium rimMovement:Proprietary movement developed exclusively for Breva by Jean-Fran?ois Mojon/ ChronodeDiameter: 36mmNumber of components: 405Number of jewels: 46Balance frequency: 4 HzDual anaerobic capsules measuring air pressurePower reserve: 65 hoursSpecifications of the Breva Genie 02:Functions: hours, minutes, small second, large-scale altitude indicator, precision-scale altitude indicator, power reserve indicator, air pressure valve, equalizer seal indicator, altitude scale adjuster.Case, dial and strap:Case material: titanium G5, with altitude calibrated in either meters or feetDimensions: 44.70 mm x 16.10 mmNumber of components: 88Crowns: winding setting crown at 9 o'clock, altitude adjuster at 2 o'clock, air valve at 4 o'clockCrystals: sapphire crystal and display back treated with anti-reflective coating on both sidesDials: Grained and galvanically-treated Nickel silver, indexes and numbers in three-dimensional Super-LumiNovaAltitude scales: available in metric (meters) or imperial (feet) measurementsWater resistance: 30mAir valve with Teflon moisture-resisting osmosis membraneStrap and buckle: natural rubber strap with titanium tang buckleMovement:Proprietary movement developed exclusively for Breva by Jean-Fran?ois Mojon/ChronodeDiameter: 38.10 mmNumber of components: 415Number of jewels: 45Balance frequency: 4 HzDual aneroid capsules specifically developed to derive altitude from air pressurePower reserve: 65 hoursPrices for the Genie 01 start at CHF 150,000 Swiss Francs, depending on the material of choice and the Genie 02 has a CHF 120,000 Swiss Francs price tag.More information can be found on the official Breva website.